Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

I like the fact on those styles that you're not limited by width or length of whatever you're trying to slice.

 

HAHA! Cut his own damn hand!?

 

No more store bought for me

 

I've never done it before but now I want to. I'm not a big bacon guy (I know....I know...) but might have to give it a whirl.

 

You will be once you make your own.

 

Fair point. I'll hit the store tomorrow and see if I can find any. I have family coming down Saturday I could convince them too

 

I've had a couple of smokers over the years, a Brinkman and one that looked like a 40 gallon barrel on it's side with a firebox on the end and a cute little smokestack. Didn't like either of them compared to what I use now, believe it or not, a simple Weber kettle BBQ. I have a belly band and a rotisserie for it and that makes all the difference in the world as the rotisserie self bastes turkey, chicken ribs or whatever as it slow cooks with indirect charcoal heating. I never ever ever soak wood chunks (I take wood chunks and cut them up a bit with a hatchet to make them smaller) in water as when you do that, the steam carries SOOT from the charcoal and that soot will find it's way to the cold surface of the meat and land on it. Yeah, I go thru a little more hickory, sugar maple, apple, mesquite, etc. this way, but no soot lands on the meat either. It takes a bit more attention than a Trager automatic pellet grill, but the results (not per me, per others) are amazing as long as you just keep an eye on the smoke level every 1/2 hour and keep the charcoal going slow, around 200 degrees is what I smoke most meats at (trout, tuna, Whole turkey, brisket, pork butt, pork ribs, chicken mostly). OH............one cool tip I learned a couple years ago.....delicate flavored meats such as Venison, Elk, Antelope will be easily overpowered by Hickory, even Apple. Way too smoky no matter how short a time you smoke those meats. If you live in an area as I do that's close to Aspen groves, go get some Aspen limbs or trunk, dry it out (it dries our really quickly btw), then cut it into small chunks and use that. Puts a very, very nice, light smoky taste on meats.

 

This is a key takeaway I go with. Around 200. My grill thermometer is mediocre at best. When it says 225, I believe it's near enough 225 that it's doing it's good thing. Is it at 230? Maybe. 220? Maybe. 215? Hell, there's a chance. Is it at 150? Nope. 300? Nope. Don't need to overthink it. Aim for (in my case) 225, you'll land close enough for government work which is close enough for smoking.

I'm new to this style but I like it so far. Makes things easier too, less to think about ahead of time. Just chuck in the wood and you're good.

Will need to try that. I don't usually do anything "delicate", but hey I'm always up for trying some new flavors. I always buy the bagged chips but I'm going to try getting some apple wood cutoffs this year and work with those. Or whatever else I can find around here.

 

Pablo8 goes shopping for aspen pellets.................

 

I'm no expert but I do not believe that Aspen wood should be used for smoking... something about the relation to a willow tree and the bark containing something used to make aspirin? Maybe my memory isn't 100% but I would stick to the fruit woods and the hard woods like hickory or mesquite

 

Stole this from some other site..

Here is a list of woods suitable for smoking:
ACACIA - these trees are in the same family as mesquite. When burned in a smoker, acacia has a flavor similar to mesquite but not quite as heavy. A very hot burning wood.
ALDER - Very delicate with a hint of sweetness. Good with fish, pork, poultry, and light-meat game birds.
ALMOND - A sweet smoke flavor, light ash. Good with all meats.
APPLE - Very mild with a subtle fruity flavor, slightly sweet. Good with poultry (turns skin dark brown) and pork.
ASH - Fast burner, light but distinctive flavor. Good with fish and red meats.
BIRCH - Medium-hard wood with a flavor similar to maple. Good with pork and poultry.
CHERRY - Mild and fruity. Good with poultry, pork and beef. Some List members say the cherry wood is the best wood for smoking. Wood from chokecherry trees may produce a bitter flavor.
COTTONWOOD - It is a softer wood than alder and very subtle in flavor. Use it for fuel but use some chunks of other woods (hickory, oak, pecan) for more flavor. Don't use green cottonwood for smoking.
CRABAPPLE - Similar to apple wood.
GRAPEVINES - Tart. Provides a lot of smoke. Rich and fruity. Good with poultry, red meats, game and lamb.
HICKORY - Most commonly used wood for smoking--the King of smoking woods. Sweet to strong, heavy bacon flavor. Good with pork, ham and beef.
LILAC - Very light, subtle with a hint of floral. Good with seafood and lamb.
MAPLE - Smoky, mellow and slightly sweet. Good with pork, poultry, cheese, and small game birds.
MESQUITE - Strong earthy flavor. Good with beef, fish, chicken, and game. One of the hottest burning.
MULBERRY - The smell is sweet and reminds one of apple.
OAK - Heavy smoke flavor--the Queen of smoking wood. RED OAK is good on ribs, WHITE OAK makes the best coals for longer burning. All oak varieties reported as suitable for smoking. Good with red meat, pork, fish and heavy game.
ORANGE, LEMON and GRAPEFRUIT - Produces a nice mild smoky flavor. Excellent with beef, pork, fish and poultry.
PEAR - A nice subtle smoke flavor. Much like apple. Excellent with chicken and pork.
PECAN - Sweet and mild with a flavor similar to hickory. Tasty with a subtle character. Good with poultry, beef, pork and cheese. Pecan is an all-around superior smoking wood.
SWEET FRUIT WOODS - APRICOT, PLUM, PEACH, NECTARINE - Great on most white or pink meats, including chicken, turkey, pork and fish. The flavor is milder and sweeter than hickory.
WALNUT - ENGLISH and BLACK - Very heavy smoke flavor, usually mixed with lighter woods like almond, pear or apple. Can be bitter if used alone. Good with red meats and game.
BBQ List members report that wood from the following trees is suitable for smoking: BAY, CARROTWOOD, KIAWE, MADRONE, MANZANITA, GUAVA and OLIVE. The ornamental varieties of fruit trees (i. e. pear and cherry) are also suitable for smoking.

 

Nice, thanks

 

Thanks. Good warning - but oddly - I read that people used it with no problems as well. Meh, ok I have plenty of other woods!!

 

Find a place to grow these somewhere in the woods or hidden, not on your property. These things grow. FAST. But, if you want a boat load of grapes and long vines, they're cool. Never thought about smoking with them. Interesting. Might have to give that a whirl too. My neighbor had a small patch growing up in the woods, he cleared out a 20x20 ish section and planted a grid of vines. Apparently they attracted deer.

I know some people are anti-almond
https://slate.com/business/2015/04/...ey-deserve-a-place-in-californias-future.html

makes a good point here though, almonds use a lot of water. So do cows, etc etc. I know a decent amount of people who are vegetarians due to the environmental impact as a major factor, and some of them are anti-almond.

 

These grow on my property. I have some hickory and red oak already down.

Are we talking about grape like the ones we eat or the Tarzan type vines? We have those damn vines growing all over the place on the property and they can get like 4" in diameter. Would be easy to cut up with a sliding compound miter saw.

 

You can grow citrus in Md?

Grape "wood" is great.

 

We can grow the Improved Meyer Lemon outdoors. But grapes, the edible fruit are common here. I here there is a thin skinned dwarf orange that can grow too.

 

Grapes grow fine here as well, but no way on citrus..............

"Meyer Lemon Trees are very cold hardy and can withstand temperatures down to about 20 degrees."

Hmmmmm..........................we do every once in awhile get in the teens, and sometimes like once every 10 years get in the single digits.